“Taking Alcatraz”

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Via Pitchfork

Field Report is an anagram of Porterfield, the surname of Eau Claire, Wisc., songwriter Chris Porterfield. Porterfield not only recorded the bulk of the project's debut LP at Bon Iver headquarters in the Eau Claire hinterlands; he also played pedal steel with pre-Bon Iver heartland rockers, DeYarmond Edison. Porterfield's hold on detail-driven narratives is as strong as that of his old friend. "Taking Alcatraz" is a slow canter about shaking fears, starting fights, and suffering the outcomes.

Like a wise uncle, Porterfield often lifts parables and history lessons wholesale to apply them to his own conflicts. Here he opens with the tale of Richard Oakes, the Mohawk rebel who led an occupation of Alcatraz for nearly two years in hopes of establishing a new Native American colony. Later, he tempts common sense by pulling his car into a parking spot reserved for bikers and avoids nostalgia by shouting irascibly at fond memories, telling the past to lose its grip on the present. Between each anecdote, Porterfield recapitulates his outlook: "A line in the sand don't matter if you don't care/ A bird in the hand is worthless if you're too scared." "Taking Alcatraz" is a song about boldly and unapologetically taking whatever step happens to be next.